The Central Hawke's Bay A&P Show last year. The 2020 show is on Thursday to Saturday. Photo / File
The Central Hawke's Bay A&P Show is set to start on time in Waipukurau on Thursday despite copping some of the rain which has hit Hawke's Bay during the week.
Show society president Dave Poulton said the rain had been "nothing like Napier", but there had been about 100mm on
his property, which had left the worry of wet sheep ahead of the show's shearing and woolhandling championships on Saturday. Entry numbers are expected to be higher than normal after a record field of 137 competitors at last month's Hawke's Bay A&P Show Great Raihania Shears in Hastings.
Show secretary Julia says entries for equestrian events - which extend to the Waipawa-Waipukurau district sports on Sunday - are also strong, while 201 entries have been received for the sheepdog trials, even more than the record number at the Hawke's Bay show, with runs starting from 8.30am each day and the final runoff on Saturday.
The week's rain isn't to impact on the show generally, although Tatam conceded on Wednesday: "It's a bit wet."
Increasingly fine weather was being forecast for the duration, with the equestrian and sheepdog events to the fore initially, and the keenest focus on the public show-day events on Saturday, including an early-evening rodeo.
